With the NBA season twisting slowly, slowly in the wind, Fox Sports Houston may have to come up with something to fill time it thought would be devoted to the final season of Rockets basketball on FSH.

It takes time to develop programming, and time is a moving target in the middle of a labor negotiation. The most logical replacement programming, when available, will be Dallas Stars hockey, since FSH can telecast those games throughout its coverage area.

"We're hoping there's going to be a full NBA season, or something close to it," said Fox Sports spokesman Ramon Alvarez. "But we are looking at contingencies."

It appears likely that the individual Fox regionals will try to fill the gaps with local programming rather than take a national feed.

Rockets reruns are possible, but there's a catch: Fox can air only games that do not involve current players.

It does open up the possibility of reliving the team's championship seasons of 1994-95 while Fox waits for the league and the players to agree on a new collective bargaining agreement.

It appears that Fox has aired its last full season of Rockets basketball. The team's rights pass for the 2012-13 season to the new regional sports network that Comcast will launch in conjunction with the Rockets and Astros.

Pay here, please

If you want to advertise on Texans games on CBS Radio next season, call Reliant Park and ask to speak to the team's sales staff.

Greg Grissom, the Texans' senior director of corporate development, confirmed Thursday that the team will retain 100 percent control of game day and ancillary programing ad sales as part of its new 10-year deal with CBS Radio that begins in 2012.

"We think this is the best way to deliver value for our partners and our fans," Grissom said.

Under the agreement, the Texans will retain the ad rights for about nine hours on game days, including pregame and postgame shows, and 15½ hours of programming on CBS Radio stations, including KILT (610 AM) and the company's FM stations.

The team also will own programming during the NFL draft and training camp, and Grissom said there will be a Texans report that will air on the CBS FM stations during the regular season..

"We will have a voice in partnership with CBS to create the type of programming that we want," Grissom said.

CBS Radio, meanwhile, gets to keep the games and shoulder programs and to use the ratings to drive ad rates for its other programs. And it doesn't have to shell out the crushing rights fee, estimated at about $7 million per year, that it signed on for in 2000.

NFL, college updates

Like all great disaster flicks, the Texans' loss to the Raiders drew quite an audience Sunday. The game did a 26.1 Nielsen rating and 4 share on KHOU (Channel 11).

"Baltimore is one of the most physical teams in football," Dierdorf said. "When a team has never really punched through to the other side, until they do it, there's always going to be a question mark."

It's a Fox doubleheader weekend, so KRIV (Channel 26) will have Eagles-Redskins with Sam Rosen and Brian Billick at noon and Cowboys-Patriots withThom Brennamanand Troy Aikman at 3:15 p.m. Should be interesting to see how much the Cowboys cut into the Texans' audience. …

College game assignments this week include Sean McDonough andMatt Millen on Oklahoma State-Texas at 2:30 p.m. Saturday on KTRK (Channel 13). …

CBS and Showtime are rolling out the promotional bells and whistles, and with justification, for A Game of Honor, the Dec. 21 Showtime documentary on Army and Navy football. A 10-part preview series on the film debuts Monday at CBSSports.com.

Four DVRs, no waiting

Even with the Rangers in the American League Championship Series, Houston ranks just 30th among the 56 major markets for average ratings through Game 4. The first four games averaged a 4.5 household rating, and KRIV (Channel 26) is averaging 3.8. …

No World Cup? No problem. The Mexico-Brazil soccer friendly Tuesday still had a 6.3 Nielsen rating on KXLN (Channel 45) and totaled 378,000 viewers. Nationally, it was the most-watched show of the day, including the ALCS, among adults 18-34. …

Real Sports with Bryant Gumbelreturns at 9 p.m. Tuesday on HBO with segments onJerry West and his lifelong struggle with depression, obsessive runners and high school sports in Colorado City, Ariz.

truTV will air a documentary prior to the 2012 NCAA Tournament on the 1991-92 Duke basketball teams that won back-to-back national titles. Team members, including Grant Hilland Christian Laettner, who are co-producers on the film, were interviewed in September when Bobby Hurley and Mike Krzyzewski were inducted into the Duke Hall of Fame. …

ESPN's Outside the Lines at 8 a.m. Sunday reports on high school sports as a healing diversion for the town of Joplin, Mo., where 160 people were killed when a tornado hit the town last May.